You Look Good In Red
by Rhearenee
Summary: Soulmate AU Ever since her 18th birthday, Ochako has been able to see strings that connect people. One day she decided to follow her own string and find the person connected to the other side.


_I never thought I would write an AU like this, but sometime back in March this idea just hit me and I had to write it. I need to finally write some decent Kacchako fics._

* * *

Ever since her 18th birthday, Ochako had been able to see strings. They were red, slightly see-through and worst of all no one else could see them. She had freaked the morning after her birthday when she had woken up and seen a red strip of light trail out of her chest. It had been even weirder when she'd seen the same light connect her parents.

That day she had found out that she wasn't alone – everyone had strings of light coming out of their chests, some had it as thick as a rope, like her parents, some were as thin as a string, like hers and some had a fading string.

One day she had tried to strike up a conversation with her dad about it but had ultimately chickened out. She couldn't explain what these things were, just that they possibly connected people and telling about it to her parents might just needlessly worry them. It was harmless and as far as she understood only she could see them. The flurry of red got overwhelming when she was in public, but in a few weeks, she had gotten used to it.

It was only after a month when she found a pattern with the strings. The strings connected supposedly two people in love and the closer they were the thicker the string, fading strings were for those who had lost their other half or didn't have one at all. She had seen friends with strings connecting them and similarly, she had seen two of her friends who were together but weren't connected by the strings. Those two said friends had broken up a week later.

Ochako didn't believe in fate or other overly corny stuff like that, she had always been a firm believer that she makes her own life, makes her own choices, but the strings were leading her to believe in fate. It was like they were connecting two people who could be soulmates.

Her string was interesting, it seemingly went on forever and the string never got thicker. She had tried following it once, only to realize that the string probably went in the shortest path towards the other side no matter the obstacle. It was very confusing when her string went through buildings or even other people.

Ultimately she didn't have the time to play around with her newfound power much and she left it as it is. When she concentrated she could almost turn it off and the red would disappear for a moment.

It was only when it was nearing her birthday again that her power had started to wane. She still hadn't found the person connecting to her and the size of her string hadn't changed at all. When it was a week before her birthday she had decided to finally follow her string. She had taken a day off from her temporary job and told her parents that she's gonna spend the day shopping for Christmas gifts.

It was awfully difficult to tell how far her other end was, so she had guessed that they probably weren't in her town. That's how she had ended up taking a train towards the direction her string went. She had passed multiple towns and cities, but none of them changed the thickness of her string, only when she was nearing Tokyo something changed.

Secretly it made her giddy to know that her other end was in Tokyo, it could give her the perfect excuse to finally explore the big city.

For an hour or two, she wandered the city streets, marvelling at the sights while following her string. It was difficult at moments when the string went through a whole block of buildings or when it crossed a river where there was no bridge. At one point she had given up and had started to look for the gifts she had promised to look for. She knew that she was close, the string was as thick as ever.

Evening was dawning and bags in hand she had gotten all she had wanted, except found the other side of her string. She peeked down at her chest – the string was now almost as thick as a rope and was slightly glowing. Ochako had never seen her string be so thick. She must be close.

Ochako crossed a street, her breath coming out in white puffs. It was getting colder and she hadn't prepared herself for such a long time outside. The string was heading straight towards the park. Her stomach was churning from excitement.

With light steps she walked through the park, watching various people pass her with smiles on their faces. It brightened up her mood, even more, everyone was in the early Christmas spirit. Light snow started to fall, coating her. She had to keep moving in a brisk pace just to keep warm.

Her string went in a straight path through the park. It was almost like a dream, after so long with this power she finally will find out who is on the other end. She could practically hear the jovial music in her ears... or that might just be the music from the toy a kid on another path was carrying. She didn't care. This was it – months of wondering will finally be put to rest.

Her stomach did a flip when she looked up from rubbing her gloved hands, her string heading straight towards a guy coming her way. He was immersed in his thoughts, mumbling to himself. The lampposts illuminated his hair in a dark green colour.

She faltered in her step.

The guy seemed not to notice her, counting something on his gloved fingers.

Her nerves were frazzled and ohmygosh she couldn't believe that she found him and he, thank god, was kind of cute. She could get behind this.

He was nearing her and she took a step forward, words on the tip of her tongue… but then he passed by her, completely missing her presence.

Mouth open she stared, frozen in place.

The string continued forward.

In disdain, she chuckled. Another fake out and she was dumb enough to fall for it again, must've been because she found the guy to be attractive, it always happened like that. Oh how she sometimes hated the string and how it seemed to make fun of her. It was probably just her being kooky, but it really did drive her nuts.

Exhaling and calming her racing heart she pushed forward. The string went in a straight line and thankfully it was getting late enough that not many people were still out. She checked the time on her phone – an hour before the last bullet train home leaves. She can do this, she's super close she can feel it and...see it. The string was pulsating with bursts of light and she wondered if it was just her nerves playing with her or was this a sign that she was nearly there. She had never seen it do something like this before.

The path before her split in two and there right in the middle of a bench was someone, the string leading right to them. She was far enough that she couldn't tell if the string when straight into him or through him. Just to be sure she walked off the path to check if the string will change directions.

It didn't.

Her initial excitement was already drained on the first guy and a little part of her still expected to be messed with. Despite herself, the longer she stared the more nervous she got, the red of her string almost blinding her with the intensity of light it was emitting. Ochako exhaled, steeling herself. She was short on time and she should stop acting like she was 14, she was an adult that could handle anything thrown at her.

Still, her steps were slow and her apprehension built the closer she got.

She was only a few meters away when muffled, angry music reached her ears. The guy was sitting in a slouch, tapping away furiously on his phone. Dirty blonde hair peeked from under his hat and a mean scowl covered his face. The string stopped right into his chest, thick as a ship's rope.

She bit her lip and balled her cold hands. Was he really it? He looked like he was ready to chew someone's head off. Not to mention the intimidating and unapproachable aura he emitted. Admittedly she was afraid. He didn't look much older than her, though it still didn't mean that he couldn't be dangerous.

Ochako exhaled shakily, trying to calm her beating heart. He was supposed to be her other half, her soulmate. It amounted to something, right? He won't just pull a knife on her out of nowhere right? She shook her head. She's come this far and this was no time to chicken out now. If he does end up being dangerous then she can just use those self-defence classes she took to use.

She was prepared, she was confident and she could do this.

Stepping into his hearing range, she fumbled around on her feet for a moment before saying a quick greeting. It didn't catch his attention, the music from his earbuds too intense, so she repeated only this time louder. The action earned her a smouldering, red glare from him.

She stood her ground, smiling through his glare. He had really nice eyes, despite the harsh glare. When he ripped out his earbuds, she tried to keep down her nerves. "I'm Ochako-"

"What the fuck do you want?" Her introduction got buried under his question.

Oh, great she has a real charmer on her hands. But what else could she have expected from someone who had been burning holes in their phone just a few moments prior? Maybe she just caught him at a bad time?

Ochako shifted her eyes away from his blazing ones. Oh crap, she never did plan what she was going to say. She had hoped that the guy would have been nice enough and a simple introduction could have lead into a pleasant conversation. How wrong she was. The universe must be having a chuckle at her.

"Well?" His sharp voice snapped her out of her blunder. A sudden thought of how much she liked his rough voice surprised her.

She mulled a bit before answering. "I know that this might sound weird and out of the blue, but...uh...can we be friends?" That sounded a lot better in her mind. And friends? What the hell. Speech: zero. _Great job, Ochako. _She tried to bite down her embarrassment at her blunder, burying her face in her scarf.

That didn't impress him and he frowned, face contorting even more. "Sod off, pink cheeks." He put back in his earbuds, getting up from the bench.

Ochako blinked, dumbfounded. _Pink cheeks? _She shook off her nerves and ran after him, latching onto his shoulder. "Wait-" Red exploded before her eyes, dazzling her. Involuntarily she let go of him and the blindingly red colour receded.

He stared at her, brows drawn. "What the hell was that?"

She blinked owlishly. "I-I don't know." She looked down at her chest and the rope was still there, connecting them. Was it because she touched him? Honestly, she had figured that her power would go away as soon as she had found him, except it seemed like the power had mutated.

"Shit, just exploded..." he mumbled, catching her attention.

"...in red, right?"

He looked up from his hands to her, confused. "Yeah…" In a snap, he was back to frowning. "Stay the fuck away from me with whatever that freaky shit was," he practically snarled and turned on his heel, stalking away in large steps.

Oh crap, what does she say? She freaked him out. She doesn't know how to get rid of it and she didn't expect him to see it too.

"What the hell is this shit?" He exclaimed further up the path, wildly swinging his arms at his front.

Ochako caught up with him, automatically putting her hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, it's alright." Another burst of red exploded, except this time it was more subdued.

Glaring, he faced her, red eyes boring into her, then they drifted to her hand on his shoulder.

Like burned she removed her hand and took a step back. "I can explain." Somewhat.

He crossed his arms and urged with his eyes for her to continue.

Swallowing, because this guy made her feel like she was talking to a ticking time bomb, she composed herself and hoped that whatever came out of her mouth this time wasn't embarrassing. "Ever since my 18th birthday, I've been able to see these strings-"

"I knew you weren't normal, pink cheeks." He scoffed, offhandedly.

"Don't interrupt me." She scowled, crossing her arms as well.

He rolled his eyes.

"As I was saying…" and she told him everything she knew, up until meeting him, surprisingly enough without any more interruptions.

"So what does this mean then? You infected me with your disease?"

Ochako pouted. "No. I have a different theory. You might not like it."

"Can't be worse than getting infected by your rabies."

This guy was testing how far her patience could go. She was sure he was trying to fuck with her, he didn't look like it, in fact, he looked a bit annoyed, but she was sure that he was trying to get rid of her by irritating her enough that she would leave herself. She had no idea how she knew, but she doubted he was stupid enough to not understand what was staring him right in the face. "I noticed that these type of strings seemed to connect two people in love, people who are married, dating. It sounds cheesy, but it's almost like a string of fate."

"You're right, it is cheesy and fucking stupid. I don't believe all that fate bullshit, I make my own life, besides I don't even know you."

"Then how do you explain this thing connecting us?" She motioned to the fat rope between them, connecting them. Strangely, it felt good to know that someone else could see it as well, even if said someone was in deep denial about it. She wasn't crazy, was she?

"I don't fucking know!" he yelled, exasperated. "But whatever this shit is it isn't some kind of fate thing or whatever the fuck. You've just infected me with your dirty ass rabies."

Ochako sighed. "I'm not a doc or anything, but I'm sure that that's not how rabies work," she mumbled.

He scoffed, glaring daggers and turned away from her, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Hey! Can I at least know your name?"

He stopped, to throw a glance over his shoulder. "Katsuki."

She didn't press him anymore, watching his retreating back. Maybe this wasn't meant to be and she had been a fool that believed in silly things.

Dejectedly she trekked back to the train station just in time for her train.

Maybe she was wrong, maybe they weren't strings of fate. Looking down at her string she waved her hand through it, watching as it dissolved into smoke and formed back into a string. Maybe she had just projected her childhood fantasies on this situation and imagined something that wasn't there?

Frustrated she plumped down in her seat, throwing her bags down on the ground, not caring about the contents inside. She bit back the urge to groan out loud. Stupid. This was stupid. She was stupid. She didn't even know what she had been expecting.

Xxx

A month later like she'd predicted her little power had left after her birthday. Her vision had cleared and everything was back to normal. On some days her thoughts whirred back to Katsuki and what the strings might have meant. What was her connection with him? Why had there been a string connecting them? Or had she just been crazy? These questions and much more had been bothering her for the past month. In a way, she almost missed her little power. She had gotten so used to seeing peoples conditions that now without them she felt a bit lost, almost naked.

Ochako sighed and focused back on the computer screen. It was winter break and during that, she was helping out her parents with any kind of random menial tasks around the company full time. Today the tasks just happened to be one of the most boring things in existence – sorting invoices and documenting them. She swore numbers and characters were swimming across her vision.

She was buried in mountains of papers and folders in the small office. Random cabinets were still open and various coloured folders even laid on the floor, forgotten. It was a mess, a mess she'll have to clean up by the end of the week.

Her workflow got interrupted when the door to the office opened and the smiling face of her mother greeted her. "Ochako, there's someone here to see you."

In surprise, she got up from her seat, mind flying over the possibilities of who could it be. None of her friends had texted to say that they were going to visit and she was pretty sure that she hadn't made any trouble recently either.

Her mum walked out, leaving the door open. She was replaced by someone Ochako had never expected to see again. His sand blonde hair was as spiky as ever, the same harsh red glare on his face. He was dressed in a red jacket and had a grey patterned scarf woven around his neck.

Puzzled she stared at him dumbly.

"I might need your help," he grumbled, avoiding looking at her directly.

Ochako blinked. "How did you find me?"

He motioned in front of his chest.

"Oh. You can still see them?"

He glared, taking a step forward. "You mean you can't see this shit anymore?"

"Uh yeah, ever since my birthday a month ago."

"Fucking great, you really did infect me with your rabies." He threw his hands out and paced around the small office, mumbling curses.

Ochako crossed her arms, jutting out her hip. "What do you want from me, Katsuki."

He perked up at the use of his name, stopping in front of her paper loaded table. "For you to get rid of this shit. It's been interfering with my work and life and I want it gone."

She bit her lip, looking away, contemplating. "Uhm...it could be the same situation as mine and you'll have to wait a year-"

"Fuck that, I 'ain't going to suffer through this bullshit any longer," he yelled, slamming his hand down on one of the stacks of papers.

She eyed the stack fearfully. If he tips it, she's going to skin him with pliers. It took her hours to sort that by date. Ochako exhaled, calming her nerves, his explosive attitude could get contagious if left unattended. "Alright. Then first we must figure out what it is since you curb stomped my theory."

Suddenly he looked away, grimacing and stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "It...uh...you might have been right." She didn't reply, waiting for him to continue. "I've noticed a pattern with this thing...and it...sorta might line up with your suggestion."

She smiled. "Great, then we have the first step figured out. Now how do we get rid of this..." she trailed off in thought, tapping her chin. She did transfer this power to him by touch, maybe she should touch him again? But then wouldn't the power just come back to her? Or is her time up with it?

One way to find out.

She walked around her table and without warning placed her hand on his.

Katsuki jolted, ripping away from her touch. "The fuck are you doing?"

Nothing happened, she didn't see colours explode. Her hand did tingle from where she had touched him, though that might be because of something else.

"This shit is giving me a headache. So fucking red." He had scrunched his eyes closed, head in hands.

Ochako hummed. "So you saw the red explode?"

"It was like a blood bath." He rubbed his eyes before glaring at her. "Don't do that again."

She put her hands up in defence. "Okay, okay, I'm just checking things."

For five minutes they both stood in awkward silence, avoiding looking at each other. She unconsciously went back to her chair, slumping down in it. No other possible solutions came to her mind. Katsuki was busying himself by eyeing the trinkets on a nearby shelf. He was nervous, clenching and unclenching his hands in his pockets. She had never truly looked at him, at his sharp jawline and straight nose, broad shoulders. She tried not to stare at him too hard, but her mind kept flying back to imagining how he would look like without all of the layers of clothes on him.

Ochako cleared her throat, fiddling with a pen, rhythmically tapping it against the table. "Well, I have no more ideas. Wanna grab some lunch while we figure this out?" Unsure her eyes strayed back to his stiff frame. Weird strings aside, she was hungry as hell and until she gets some food in her she won't be able to think straight.

"Fine," he grumbled, throwing a glance her way.

She almost sighed in relief but smiled instead. "Great! I know this wonderful place in town that serves the best noodles around."

Worst idea ever.

The awkwardness was palpable and the soulmate thing was hanging between them like a weird ass clown. Even the heavenly tasting noodles tasted like awkward. Next time she should just keep her mouth shut or not invite him along for she couldn't even make the smallest move, constantly aware that he saw her every action. She couldn't even make eye contact. Thankfully, the meal was short, both of them too focused on the food to talk.

When it came time to pay, she fumbled around searching for her wallet in her jacket only to notice that Katsuki had already covered the bill. "We could've split it."

"It's fine." He didn't even look at her as he got up from his seat.

Quietly she followed him outside in the cold, immediately stuffing her hands in her pockets. The streets were sparse with people, only a few cars on the road. They were no closer to figuring out how to solve the problem. Maybe she should ask her parents, they always seemed to know what to do.

"Any ideas."

He startled her back to reality, making her realize how close to each other they were walking, almost shoulder to shoulder. "Uh...umm...none yet." She made some distance between them. "Uh...when's your birthday?"

"April 20th. Why?"

"Maybe you just have to wait till your birthday for it to clear up just like it did for me."

"I 'ain't gonna wait that fucking long."

"It's only three months, I had it for a year." She shrugged.

Katsuki suddenly stopped, yelling in her face. "Don't you fuckin' understand that this shit is annoying. I'm tired of seeing all this bullshit." He motioned in front of him, seemingly trying to wave away the string.

Ochako put her hands in her sides. "Alright, Mr Impatient, do you have any other ideas on how to get rid of this?" She waited a moment and when he didn't respond she continued. "I thought not. So you either shut up and bear with it or come up with a plan on your own. I mean, what did you think would happen when you came here? That I would just whisk it away with my magic wand?"

The anger completely drained from his face and his fixture on her made her a bit uncomfortable. He stepped closer to her, eyes briefly straying to her lips. "Just...go along with this, okay?"

She was even more confused and opened her mouth to ask. He was awfully close and leaning even closer. She couldn't move from her spot, transfixed on his eyes. He fully closed the distance between them, kissing her.

A flurry of butterflies exploded in her stomach, chills ran down her spine. When he pulled away she immediately missed his warmth. She had never felt like that before when getting kissed, even if it was more of a short peck than a kiss.

He blushed scarlet and Ochako soon followed. They both looked away. She wrung her hands in her hair, shuffling her feet. "Uh...what was...that?"

Katsuki cleared his throat. "I...I thought that it might solve this problem."

"Did it?"

"...no."

Well, this just got a whole lotta awkward again.

"I think… I'm just gonna go home." He visibly swallowed and pivoted on his heel.

"Wait! Don't you want to try and solve this?"

He didn't turn around to face her, but she could see that his ears were still red. He mumbled something she didn't catch.

"What was that?"

"You look good in red."

She didn't know what to say. She wasn't wearing anything red, she even checked.

Hastily he turned back to her. "I-I mean you're glowing red, there's like this red glow around you."

"Oh...you look good red too." She giggled trying to hide her own fluster. What the hell was he even talking about? Was she really blushing that hard?

He grumbled, hiding his red face in his hand. "It changed...I don't see the strings anymore, just this red glow around you."

"Oh...that's good then?"

"...yeah."

They shuffled around awkwardly, avoiding looking at each other, faces red. She opened her mouth to say something, but immediately quenched it. What does she even say in this situation?

When she looked up he was closer to her, invading her personal space. Ochako gasped when he took her face in his hands and kissed her again. This time she was faster to react, wrapping her hands around his neck, the action almost natural. He tasted like the noodles they'd had previously and she was pleased to note that he was just as rough with his kisses as he was with his words. She never would have expected to like such roughness, such passion.

Reluctantly she pulled away, pressing her hands against his chest. They were still in public and people no doubt were staring. The last thing she needed was for someone who knows her and see; it was a small town and news travelled fast.

"I..uhm..." Her face was flaming. "What was that for?"

He was quiet for a long while, brows drawn, searching her face for something. "Just felt right."

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "So..umm...What happens now?"

"I got rid of it."

"What?"

He was looking all around with a satisfied smile on his face. "That red bullshit is gone. Should've known that that would be the case..." he mumbled the last part.

Ochako inclined her head in confusion. "Uh...that's great..." She was at a loss for words.

"Thanks for your help, pink cheeks, I guess." He shrugged.

She was so confused, she didn't even do anything. He began walking and she matched his pace. "Wait, wait! What just happened?"

He grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Well?"

"It's gone. You can go back do whatever the fuck it was you were doing. I'm going home."

"Just like that?"

"Yep." He was being very standoffish again and avoiding looking at her.

She fumbled with her hands. "You...you don't want to figure this thing out further?"

"What is there to figure out? I'm free from that dumb shit and that's all that matters."

"I...I mean the soulmate thing."

He abruptly stopped, finally looking at her. "Stuff like that doesn't exist."

Oh, she was getting fed up with him. How much could one person deny? "Oh really? Then how do you explain your little power disappearing or the fact that it was connecting us? Why did it seemingly disappear once you kissed me?"

His cheeks coloured red and he avoided answering.

She pursed her lips, staring him down. "Don't tell me that you're stupid enough to ignore what's right in front of you."

Like she expected the insult garnered a reaction from him. "Watch your fucking mouth, round face. I don't have the time to indulge in this bullshit. I have more important things to work on rather than waste my time on this soulmate thing. You figure it out if it matters to you so much."

"But I wanna figure it out together."

He didn't answer just looked at her for a long while. "It's cold, you're freezing. Let's just go back inside."

Ochako blinked at his sudden switch in tone. She indeed was freezing, her fingers cold. She opened her mouth to continue, but he had already started walking. Running to catch up, she met his pace and didn't try to speak anymore, just followed him back to her office. She supposed that she had failed in convincing him, though it didn't mean that she was giving up just yet. He was still here, despite having numerous chances to walk away. Part of her wondered if he simply had troubles admitting his feelings.

When they reached her building he abruptly stopped and turned to her. "Give me your phone."

She stared at his extended hand. After a moment she dug her phone out of her pocket and handed it to him, electricity shooting through her hand when their fingers touched.

He typed something on it for a while before handing it back. "Call me if you ever have any troubles or anything."

Dumbfounded she peered down at her phone where a new contact was saved under his name. When she looked back up he had already started walking away. This time she didn't run after him, she'd tormented him enough already. He probably needed time to digest all of this new information and being pushy might have the opposite effect.

Ochako smiled and clutched her phone to her chest. He wasn't what she had expected from a soulmate, but she could feel that he wasn't as bad as he made himself out to be, he was sweet in his way.

Xxx

Sometime around a week, later she texted him out of boredom. While he was still as raunchy as he was in person she found herself enjoying their conversations basically about nothing. She avoided bringing up the soulmate thing again and let things go their own natural way. She found out that his aversion to accepting her theory about soulmates initially had been because of his focus on his career and avoidance to relationships in general.

They met up in person again a couple of times. He was slowly opening up to her, disclosing various things about himself, of course in a standoffish way. She learned quickly that Katsuki wasn't a big fan of heartfelt conversations. At one point he got very interested in her life and future and he certainly didn't hold back on anything he wanted to know, no shame for this guy apparently. Yet, she couldn't deny that she despised that, it made her feel oddly wanted like her opinions and dreams mattered no matter how silly.

After one particular conversation and a kiss she decided that yes, she could see her life together with him, she hadn't been wrong after all. Whatever might come her way she won't let it stop her from seeing him, being his and him being hers.

She never found out what the red strings had been exactly, but she was glad that they had helped her find such an amazing person.

* * *

_That's all folks, thanks for reading. I quite liked writing this one shot, at one point it even started writing by itself. Definitely will be writing more Kacchako in the future._


End file.
